A text message obtained by the New York Times shows former Fox News host Tucker Carlson describing a video of a “group of Trump guys” beating an “Antifa kid,” and saying that “It’s not how white men fight.”
Carlson allegedly sent the text to one of his producers the day after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The text was included in discovery as part of Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against Fox last month and reportedly “set off panic” at the network because Fox executives were concerned it would be revealed at trial.
The text was redacted in court documents released to the public but the Times published the full message on Tuesday night:
A couple of weeks ago, I was watching video of people fighting on the street in Washington. A group of Trump guys surrounded an Antifa kid and started pounding the living shit out of him. It was three against one, at least. Jumping a guy like that is dishonorable obviously. It’s not how white men fight. Yet suddenly I found myself rooting for the mob against the man, hoping they’d hit him harder, kill him. I really wanted them to hurt the kid. I could taste it. Then somewhere deep in my brain, an alarm went off: this isn’t good for me. I’m becoming something I don’t want to be. The Antifa creep is a human being. Much as I despise what he says and does, much as I’m sure I’d hate him personally if I knew him, I shouldn’t gloat over his suffering. I should be bothered by it. I should remember that somewhere somebody probably loves this kid, and would be crushed if he was killed. If I don’t care about those things, if I reduce people to their politics, how am I better than he is?
Fox News settled with Dominion to the tune of $787.5 million and Carlson was fired from the network last week.
It’s not clear why Fox News parted ways with its biggest star but unconfirmed reports say part of the reason was Carlson’s private comments about the network’s executives.
